20th Century Theatre
- American Literature - of life and creating more believable characters. Realism remained the dominant trend of the...
- Theatre - for the "method" of the Actor's Studio in the 20th Century. The Twentieth...
- Salvador Dali - are not totally bizarre they are not real-life. The dictionary defines "surrealism" as...
- Bob - to the show and a Los Angeles production was to be mounted. Adler invited executives from...
- Broadway - population of just over three and a half-million inhabitants. The first decade of the 20th...
Submitted by rustyc on 06/30/2008 05:21 PM
- Category: American History
- Words: 271
- Pages: 2
- Views: 25
- Popularity Rank: 2375
20th Century Theatre
The eclecticism that pervades the 20th-century theatre is perhaps best summarized in the international career of the Austrian director Max Reinhardt, who worked in an amazing variety of locales that included large and small theatres with and without proscenium frames, cabarets, churches, royal palaces and riding schools, the converted Circus Schumann in Berlin, and even outdoor settings such as the Hollywood Bowl and the square before the cathedral in Salzburg, Austria. (In the 1930s, Reinhardt also directed a few films in Hollywood.) The playwrights whose works he produced ranged from Sophocles through Shakespeare and Calderon to such modern writers as Frank Wedekind and Luigi Pirandello. Each production received its own unique style and scenic treatment, with the latter often incorporating the latest technical developments, including the revolving stage and plaster domes or cycloramas behind and above the stage.
Popular alternatives to the proscenium design include the thrust stage--a platform surrounded by the audience on three sides--and the arena stage, which is completely surrounded by the audience. Some experiments have also been made with environmental staging, in which the stage surrounds the audience or several stages are interspersed through an audience area, thus creating a playing space like that of certain medieval performances. Whereas most commercial theaters have retained the traditional proscenium, the modern theater as a whole is eclectic and offers opportunities to witness virtually every kind of staging technique. Scenery tends to follow the specific needs of a play rather than any particular style. If a contemporary style of theater architecture exists, then it is the multipurpose auditorium, a flexible, adaptable space designed to suit all needs and all types of performance.
You must Login to view the entire paper.
If you are not a member yet, Sign Up for free!
